Handmade in Harlem, Hamlin Apothecary creates all-natural whipped body butter by infusing moisturizing butters and oils with botanicals. Mommy-owned, made and operated, the brand grew from founder Terri Freeman’s search for cleaner body care during pregnancy and draws inspiration from her great-great-grandfather’s Hamlin Drugs, founded in Raleigh in 1904. Its products are produced in micro-batches, with aromatherapy-based scents and carefully sourced, food-grade-or-better raw ingredients.
Shea Gotta Have ItShea Gotta Have It handcrafts whipped and scented shea-butter body soufflés, transforming raw shea butter into aromatic skincare through a closely overseen preparation and packaging process. Inspired by shea butter since the 1990s, the company’s maker developed its whip and technique through years of research and development, using all-natural ingredients without harsh chemicals or preservatives. Every jar is personally supervised from raw-butter selection through packaging.
Soap CherieBrooklyn-based Soap Cherie makes uniquely handmade body-care products from natural and organic ingredients, including soaps, oils, scrubs and bath treatments. Its line is shaped around an all-natural approach to caring for the body and soul, with products designed to preserve essential vitamins and minerals while encouraging a closer connection with nature. Soap Cherie operates from Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn, New York.BROOKLYN, NY
Don't B. AshyBorn from a grandmother’s reminder to “Don’t be ashy,” Don’t B. Ashy makes small-batch body care handcrafted in Brooklyn, New York. The Black-owned brand frames moisturizing as inherited resilience and self-tending, with products such as its signature lemongrass-and-rosemary body butter made for skin and spirit. Its “Love, Me” collection extends that idea through a custom scent collaboration with Tiffany D. Cross.NEW YORK, NY
Coarse CultureBorn from founder VaLanDria Smith-Lash’s effort to ease her mother’s lupus-related skin irritation, Coarse Culture makes all-natural whipped shea butter for skin and hair. The Black-owned business is headquartered in Oxford, Ohio, where its products are made through Miami University’s College@Elm Innovation Center and students gain hands-on experience through the Culture Cohort. Smith-Lash began developing the product at age 14 and later launched Coarse Culture publicly while attending college.OXFORD, OH